Gust Gallery - Fine Arts

I was raised by profoundly deaf parents. My mother lost her hearing when she was four and my father when he was seventeen. Growing up with deaf parents highly heightened my visual senses. Seeing was strongly related to the feeling of a thing.

Especially connection. For example when I paint a tree I hope it will become a portrait. Is this tree old? Is it windswept and hardened? Is it loved or forgotten? Is this tree deeply or shallow rooted? Is it in agony? Melting? What is a melting tree anyway? Am I moved and delighted by this tree? Am I outraged? Will I weep with joy by the mere presence of it? Will I become overwhelmed by the process of painting this tree or will I let myself surrender to it?

Henri Bergson said, "It is emotion that drives the intelligence forward in spite of obstacles." Henri's statement couldn't be truer especially in the world in which I grew and thrived.

Through my art I want to capture the feeling of a flower, mountain or tree, which hopefully brings the viewer into a deeper and more personal dimension. The subject then becomes enlivened by its intelligence. Everything in life is more than what we attribute it to be by merely looking. My art tends to be colorful and bold pushing the boundaries of casual glances. I try to capture the feeling we get while in nature that everything has a power and a presence that is beyond our scope of understanding.

Nature isn't logical and feelings usually are not either. Through my art I try to give the viewer the feeling of coloring out of the lines when one was a child; the freedom to truly feel and connect with a thing. The ability to see as a child is typically lost as we age. I hope my art brings the viewer to a closer intimacy with the subject before them. A time when a desire to understand and connect was first and foremost, as natural as mother's milk.

I grew up in a household with parents that were profoundly deaf. They couldn't hear any sound at all. My mother lost her hearing at the age of four and my father at the age of 17, both from spinal meningitis. Growing up, the visual world was very necessary.

My mother and father's hands were always busy creating interesting and beautiful things. These were silent and imaginative days. As a child I would sit by my mother's side carefully watching her while she would create large mosaics out of multi-colored stones to hang on our walls. I remember feeling euphoric when the last stone was set.

She was prolific at crochet. Her hands fastidiously created large multi-colored afghans, numerous soft wool baby blankets and exquisite intricately patterned ecru table cloths. It was if her hands and her brain communicated without any effort at all. Her flower gardens were no less magnificent.

One of the most creative things she did was paint. I would watch intently as she blended the oil colors together. It was then and there the magical seed was planted: my genesis. Oil paint was thick, creamy and luscious. It was messy, forgiving and unforgiving. It felt mysterious. Sentiments I still feel to this day.

My father was equally as creative. He was a woodworker and made beautiful cedar Adirondack chairs, shelves with intricate clocks inserted and curious weather instruments embedded in rich stained oak. My parents were printers by trade and worked long hours side by side in what we called "The Shop." They created books, newspapers, flyers and pamphlets for the community.

My parents hands and eyes were their world and became my world. Their hands created, comforted and communicated. We are in the garden early in the morning picking strawberries in the dew. There is no sound, just silence with an abundance of love and strawberries and cream for breakfast.

While watching my parents in this silent world, my love for art flourished. I learned to love to create. I drew the trees, flowers and the people that were in my life, exploring my love of nature, especially mountains and trees. As a youth I painted flowers on hanging wooden planters, made macramé owls, and wrote poems about everything

I would say I am mainly a self-taught artist although my youth speaks of a truer story. I took art classes at Rick's College and art history at the University of Calgary. Painting focuses my eyes on the world.